The Ultimate Guide To #CIAA

What is CIAA?

The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) was founded in 1912 as the Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association and is the oldest African-American athletic conference in the nation. It is a NCAA Division II conference, where once a year there is a CIAA Basketball Tournament. Outside of the tournament the week is filled with events including parties, numerous educational and healthy-livings components, step shows and a battle of the bands. The men’s and women’s tournament championship games are on Saturday night.

The CIAA is comprised of the the following Black Colleges and Universities:

Bowie State University, Chowan University, Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville State University, Johnson C. Smith University, Lincoln University of Pennsylvania, Livingstone College, St. Augustine’s University, Shaw University, Virginia State University, Virginia Union University and Winston-Salem State University

More than likely when you hear someone referring to going to CIAA, it is regarding the tournament and the events. The rest of the article will refer to the tournament and events as CIAA (say C I Double A).

Where and When is CIAA?

Currently, it is held in Charlotte each year around late Feb/Early March. Over 100K people attend and it brings in over 50 Million in spend to Charlotte.

Where Should I Stay?

Book your hotel EARLY (6+ months in advance). Some people book their hotel as soon as the previous year’s CIAA is over so the earlier the better. If you can afford it stay in the Uptown area/Epicentre. If not South Charlotte by the airport may be the next best thing. Avoid areas like West Blvd and Albermarle road. CIAA offers a discount on a block of rooms but they must be reserved early. If you're looking to stay in an Airbnb you can receive $35 off your first stay. Cheap 4 Star Hotels in Charlotte

What Is There To Do?

ATTEND A GAME: Although this is a basketball tournament it is important to know not many people go to the games (BIG PROBLEM) and the majority of the attendees have no ties to CIAA schools . If you want to go it’s easy to score free tickets from giveaways at the convention center. PLEASE TRY TO support the games, the reason for the events! Click to Purchase Tickets for the basketball games held at Bojangles Coliseum and Spectrum Center. At home you can watch the 2017 games on the Aspire channel.

Check out a free concert, vendors and celebrity meet and greets at the Toyata Fan Fest in the Convention Center. This is a free event and takes place Thursday-Sunday of the Tournament. Click here for the official schedule.

Attend the Career Expo: If you're a recent graduate or current student of a CIAA school. Meet with prospective employers and graduate schools.

Step Shows

If the party scene is your thing the following will help you survive CIAA:

Day parties are better than the night parties, always (especially Friday)! You can pay in advance for a day party or try to take part of free entry that starts at around 12pm, if you do free early admission be prepared to wait for the party to get good around 3pm. Check out frequently updated list of the parties.

For best ticket prices to parties buy in January or ASAP to avoid paying ridiculous prices. Even though you have a ticket still try to get to the party early to avoid lines unless you have a table. Please don't go broke trying to impress a potential CIAA boo, you probably won't hear from them after CIAA. :/

If you must attend a celebrity hosted party, verify the celeb is actually going to be there through Instagram or Twitter. There will be TONS of false advertisements for celeb hosted parties.

Uptown is where all the action happens on College Street there is cheap parking behind Ruth Chris on Tryon Street, you can walk over to the action and avoid gridlocked College Street. Stick to parties that are uptown. Harris Blvd., Sugar creek and Albemarle are not where you want to be! You could also park in Southend catch the Charlotte Light Rail, Lynx and Uber back to your car if late.